HOUSING bosses have promised to learn from their mistakes after a gran was wrongly given an Asbo.

HOUSING bosses have promised to learn from their mistakes after a gran was wrongly given an Asbo.

They promised that lessons had been learned from the blunder in which the woman was issued with an interim order without the chance to defend herself.

But they could never provide a 'cast iron guarantee' that the situation would not happen again.

The unnamed woman, from north Manchester, was falsely accused by one neighbour of playing loud music, threatening violence and making abusive gestures.

Council inspectors moved to obtain an interim Asbo and only told her of the pending court case two days before the hearing in December 2004.

The case was eventually dropped in May 2005 after she gathered 20 letters from residents who described her as a 'perfect neighbour'.

It was put in the hands of the Local Government Ombudsman, whose report described the blunder as 'an abuse of power of nightmarish proportions'.

In an exclusive interview with our sister paper the Manchester Evening News, the woman said she had been through "a living hell" with her repeated requests to the council for an investigation ignored.

Opposition councillors labelled the blunder a "travesty."

Neighbourhood services boss Councillor Eddie Newman said he fully accepted the ombudsman's recommendations to review procedures, issue an apology to the woman and pay her compensation of £2,000.

He said: "The council regrets the circumstances and accepts the findings of the ombudsman's report. I do not think this means our policy on Asbos is wrong, it just shows that we can all make mistakes."

Lib Dem Councillor Jackie Pearcey said it was the most damning Ombudsmen's report she had ever read.

She said: "The situation was based on one malicious allegation which could have resulted in her being imprisoned. We need a cast iron guarantee that people are not going to find themselves at the risk of prosecution. It is a complete travesty."

Lib Dem Councillor Paul Shannon added: "Anybody can hold their hands up and say 'We made a mistake,' but the real injustice happened when her complaint was not addressed properly."

Mr Newman said a written apology and compensation was issued as late as 19 July because they had asked the woman to attend a face to face meeting to give her a personal apology, but she declined.